An Adventure Begins… (Dawn of the Jedi)

Hai guys, Trimaj here again. I’ve recently embarked on something of a crazy, daunting task: a chronological read through of the entirety of the Star Wars saga (or as near as I can manage it) including the comics. I realize this is not going to be anywhere near a short project or anything like that, but I figured I’d bring you along for the ride as I go through things as interesting topics of discussion occur to me. For instance, I may do a chapter commentary on books as the fancy strikes me, but I can pretty much assure I’ll have something to say on pretty much anything I read as I go along. Hopefully it’ll provide some interesting topics and thoughts throughout the journey, and it will certainly provide a new perspective on the Star Wars universe as a whole (if for no other reason I’ll finally be familiar with almost all of it one way or another). If you’re wondering, yes, this will include the Marvel comics run, and quite possibly the Jedi Prince series of books as well, dubiously canon though they are. So without further ado, the purpose of this post today: Dawn of the Jedi.

I have to say that is probably one of the more interesting series of comics that I’ve read in quite some time, and it provides a distinctly intriguing look at the GFFA millennia before it forms into what we’re all familiar with. This is before the Republic is even a thought, before hyperspace travel is even remotely a safe thing to do, and is during the time of the Infinite Empire of the Rataka, and is overall a distinctly darker place than anything near what we’re used to. But none of that is really what I want to talk about right now, as what really grabbed my attention was the first issue, which takes place which takes place an additional 10,000 years earlier, 36,453 BBY to be precise. And it starts with a group called the Dai Bendu and objects called the Tho Yor. The Dai Bendu were apparently Force sensitives (at least the ones present at the momentous time that the Tho Yor finally spoke to them), and spent a millennium contemplating what this immense monolith could possibly be, and what secrets it could contain. They wondered this because it was obvious it did not belong on their world. They didn’t find out until everything about them was in balance, meaning all aspects of the Force, including the Dark Side. Then the Tho Yor invited them in, and took them on a journey. That journey culminated on Tython, the original home of the Jedi, a unique and bizarrely Force attuned world.

The Tho Yor as they take some Dai Bendu to Tython.

The Tho Yor did this with eight races in all, Wookiees, Dathomiri Humans, Selkath, Twi’lek, Sith (the species), Cathar and a few others that aren’t specifically mentioned (and sadly I didn’t recognize). Overall a rather diverse mix that I wasn’t expecting, the Sith in particular given their reputation later on in the GFFA. Apparently the Tho Yor could sense when a group had finally come into complete balance in the Force, and took those that were willing to a place they could learn more about the force. It turns out this was something that also happened to the Kwa (of Infinity Gate fame and another of those ancient races that we know so little about that randomly disappeared), and that they’re responsible for raising up the Rakata into the monsters they became, but that’s for another time most likely.

What makes Tython so interesting is that it VERY directly reacts to those Force sensitives around them, and whether they are in balance or not. Should someone be leaning too far towards the Light Side you have bad things happening and the planet rebels against this until balance is found again, the same thing happens with the Dark Side, with storms it would seem, and depending how far out of balance they can be pretty bad… but more on that later. What this resulted in was the Jedi being in perfect balance with the Force, and utilizing both sides of it perfectly without being corrupted. Not only this but they utilized alchemy, sorcery and manipulation of animals to create new ones (like a flying rancor), powers and abilities that are normally attributed only to the Dark Side and unattainable by those who would seek to do good. This shows that a few assumptions that are made by the latter day Force users is patently false, mainly those that the two aspects of the Force are mutually exclusive. To reference back to my previous post, this would also seem to be the kind of situation that the Father was in more control of than either of his two children, just a minor aside I found to be interesting.

So what does this mean overall? I honestly don’t know, but it certainly paints a very different picture of what the potential is relative to the Force, and how simplistic the views of both the Jedi and Sith actually are. Not to mention it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth to the Baneite Sith in that Gravid was right about what the best way to get the most out of the Force is, he just went about doing that a bit wrong. I’m sure going insane didn’t help matters, but what happened with during Dawn of the Jedi would certainly suggest that it is more than possible to utilize both sides of the Force in conjunction with each other, and even be more capable as a result of it. Go figure.

You had me at “flying rancor.” As we have discussed, this is a series I’m still working my way through, but I just wanted to give you props for a great breakdown of the early series.

Tython, for being a relatively new world in the SW Universe, is a fascinating one at that. It gives us a second dichotomous series of worlds to look at- of course you have Coruscant and Nar Shadaa, the centers of politics and perceived “power”- but now we have Tython and Korriban, where the power is truly harvested, although we know that both planets are eventually phased out in the era leading up to the New Sith Wars.

Looking forward to your posts, I’ll try to read the source material along with you! Cheers,